


Going Home

by GoodJanet



Category: Quantum Leap
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Gen, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Prostitution
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-26
Updated: 2015-07-26
Packaged: 2018-04-11 06:46:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4425434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoodJanet/pseuds/GoodJanet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The leaps have been getting harder. That much is clear.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Going Home

The leaps have been getting harder and more dangerous. That much is clear. 

It doesn’t matter how many alterations they make or how many scenarios they run, things only get worse. Sam’s missions suddenly shift from speeding up integration and singing Elvis tunes at a diner to exposing black market drug runners, participating as a doctor in off-the-books organ donations, and even as an arms dealer on a few occasions.

So when Al finds Sam curled up on a dirty mattress in back of a warehouse, he can’t say he’s surprised.

“Sam?”

Sam flinches, arms wrapped around himself for lack of a blanket.

“It’s just me, Sam.”

Slowly, carefully, Sam sits up and turns to face Al. The side of his face is cut up pretty badly and his clothes look freshly torn. Sam licks his lip and flinches at the micro cuts his finds there.

“When I leaped in here,” Sam begins. His voice sounds like gravel. “There was a big guy. He attacked me. Who is he, and who am I?”

With fumbling fingers, Al punches things into his handlink.

“You’re name is Annie Meyers. Age twenty. You’re a…”

A beat.

“Say it, Al.”

“You’re a prostitute.”

Sam nods, waiting for Al to continue.

“You’ve, ah, worked with this group for three years. And they call you Annie Easy Street.”

“Because I always say yes?” Sam asks with an edge to his words.

Al scratches at the back of his head. It made him sick to his stomach to even consider.

“Annie probably gave up fighting a long time ago, Sam.”

Sam just looks at him, blood dripping onto his clothes and the mattress.

“So did I, Al.”

“Oh, Sam. I’ll figure out something. We always do.”

“And in the meantime, I’m supposed do what, exactly? Just do whatever these guys tell me to do? Is that what Ziggy says? Because I don’t know if I have that kind of time, Al!”

Al wishes he could reach out to him, but all he can do is watch the fat tears roll down his face.

“It was never supposed to be like this. Leaping was supposed to help people, to educate people. And look where it’s gotten me.”

Al watches silently as Sam wipes blood away from his eyes, his sleeve coming away dark crimson on lime green.

“Can’t I just die? It would be so quick.”

His voice is so slow, almost as if he didn’t think the words would come out of his mouth.

“You’d be killing Annie too. You’re here to save her.”

“Does she want to be saved, Al?”

Al sighs deeply. He doesn’t even consult the handlink. The answer is right there in the eyes staring back at him. Sam might be in Annie’s body, but there was no mistaking what he read in them.

“Please, Al.”

His voice is soft. The edge of anger and fear has dissipated, leaving only despair and a longing in their places.

“Sam, don't. Don't even think of it.”

“How can you stop me? You’re just a hologram.”

There is no bite to his words. It's just a statement of fact. Sam stands on shaking legs, and his eyes cast around the room.

“Sam, don’t do this. I can’t lose you now. Don’t you know that?”

On timid heels, Sam clicks over to a door marked as storage. It’s not even locked, and soon the two are inside as Sam continues his search for…something.

“Talk to me, kid. Please. What can I do?”

Sam grabs a rusty box cutter off one of the shelves, hidden behind a broken mop handle.

“You can tell Ziggy that she can stop running scenarios to get me home.”

Then Al really starts to panic. Sam turns away again and walks back over to the mattress. Better to be lying down for this…

“Sam, please don’t do this. Please, kid. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

Al thinks of Donna and Sammy Jo and curses Sam’s rules to hell.

Sam exits the closet and wanders back to the mattress. He lies down on his back and breathes deeply through the pain surging through his head and in between his legs from his assault. He opens his eyes to find Al watching him, looking to be in just as much pain as himself.

“Will you stay with me?” Sam asks. “I—I don’t want to be alone.”

“Oh, kid. Don’t you want to go home?”

Sam picks up the blade.

“Al, I am going home.”

For a split second, they are in a dirty, cold warehouse, and in the next, a bright blue light surrounds them.


End file.
